We have four geldings, all nearly 12 years old. Their names are: Faro, Fyta, Fergus and Fidget. We started keeping Alpacas with these 4 boys in June 2007 and although we had up to eight boys for several years, we have now reverted to keeping our original four. Through this blog we hope to show how much pleasure can be had from owning Alpacas.

OUR SMALL HERD

Our four boys came from Ardo Alpacas in Aberdeenshire. We are not alpaca breeders and have our boys purely as pets. Our experience is that you don't need to be a breeder and that a 'batchelor herd' can give much pleasure to the owner.
We have 5 acres including our big garden and grazing for the boys, 15 miles north of Inverness, Scotland. I spin, knit, felt and crochet with the fleece from the boys.

Clicking!!

Just a reminder that clicking on (most) of the photos will show them greatly enlarged.

Sunday, 23 August 2015

Hot weather - at last!

Captured on the mobile phone, the moment Faro decides it is too hot to keep his head up and he decides to dunk his neck in the water tray! He loves having water on his head and neck. Fyta and Fergus are in the sand pit behind him. Schoolchildren returned to school in the Highlands this week and the sun has been shining most days for a change! Typical eh?

We penned the boys mid-week to give them a check over and also to rub Neem oil on various parts of their anatomies. The oil stinks and the flies don't like it but more importantly, because it is an oil it lasts a lot longer than a spray on the animals.

Faro (left), Fyta, Fidget and Fergus in the catch pen awaiting application of the smelly stuff! We also gave Faro a mineral drench as he is still very 'picky' with his supplement feed (Camelibra and Fibregest) and sometimes won't eat it at all.

Another lovely day this week and with magnification you'll be able to see the boys lying in their field shelter (middle of the picture), out of the sun and away from flies. Apart from Fidget that is, who is sun-bathing on the grass, doing his own routine as always.

Another week, another project for the grumpy gardener. Since moving from our last house we have had no veg garden and the plan is to strip the turf, dig over a new plot before the frosts come then fence it to keep Roger the Rabbit and his mates from demolishing the produce next season! Most of the land here is on a slope and is very stoney so when the going gets rough, the grump gets going! The boys are in the distance in the rough paddock.

And finally..............Crocosmia 'Lucifer', a beautiful colour of red.